"Yes, oh, yes! I go hunting," replied Mignon, scratching his nose.

"Are you a good shot?"

"Shot! No! oh, no! I never shoot."

"What on earth do you go hunting for, then?"

"Why, I carry the ladies’ umbrellas."

"What! Do the ladies hunt, too?"

"Oh, yes! Cornélie often brings down hares."

"And her sister?"

"Eudoxie doesn’t shoot, but she follows the hunt; the movement of the horse is very good for her nerves.—Ah! I beg pardon, I think my nieces called me; I may have forgotten a box!"

Mignon hurried from the salon, and Robineau said to his friends: